Chapter 137: The Street Vendor

"Welcome to the Amusement Park."

A mechanical system prompt suddenly echoed in their ears, followed immediately by a system notification box appearing before them.

"Amusement Park:
Difficulty: SS-Rank
Clearance Reward: Character Level +1, Purple Core Crystal x1, Random Puzzle Piece Drop x1
Clearance Task: Become the number one ranked player in this amusement park (teaming up is permitted)."

The content on the screen was straightforward, stating only that they needed to become the top-ranked entity in the park, and that groups were allowed. But what exactly constituted being "number one" in this amusement park?

Qingyan pointed toward a carousel not far in front of Xiyan and said, "Doesn't the speed of that carousel seem a bit abnormal to you?"

Hearing her words, Xiyan looked up from his thoughts. He peered into the distance and realized the carousel was spinning at a dizzying velocity, fast enough that it felt like it could fling anyone off. Yet, the people seated on it remained motionless, their expressions cold and numb, as if they had long since lost all emotion.

"The people on that carousel must be products of the instance; they aren't human," Xiyan remarked.

Qingyan nodded in agreement. However, when her gaze shifted to another attraction, the corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily. What should have been a safe "Rocking Boat" ride looked anything but secure. The ride consisted of a person standing on a wooden board with handrails in front, mounted on a sliding track that moved back and forth. It was essentially a low-end version of a pirate ship, typically designed not to exceed a 45-degree angle.

Yet, the ride before them was swinging at an angle clearly exceeding 90 degrees, and there were no safety restraints whatsoever. Anyone on it was at extreme risk of being thrown off.

As the two stood quietly observing their surroundings, a shifty-looking man suddenly approached them. He glanced left and right, appearing as though he were terrified of being caught by someone.

"Brother, need some help?" The stranger reached out to pat Xiyan on the shoulder, but Xiyan dodged the contact without a trace.

Seeing his hand grasp at empty air, the man didn't seem to mind. Instead, he flashed a cheeky grin at Xiyan and said, "If you don't accept my help, you're going to find it very hard to leave this place."

Qingyan looked at the man with a haughty expression and asked, "How do you know it would be hard for us to leave without your help?"

"You look like someone with high ability, but let me tell you, even high ability is useless here." The man gave a mysterious smile and continued, "Even those monsters from the Main City have been here, but they only managed to escape this instance with my help."

Hearing this, Xiyan chuckled. So, this instance actually had a "spokesperson"? He didn't believe for a second that the big shots from the Main City would need this man to escape, and Qingyan was even more skeptical.

However, neither of them refuted him immediately. Xiyan looked at the man with interest and asked, "Then, if I wanted to use your method to leave, is there a cost? For example... points?"

Upon hearing this, the man revealed a lewd grin. "Brother, you’re a quick learner! You’re clearly a man of understanding. That’s right, as long as you pay the corresponding points, you can leave here safely, and you’ll even receive the instance rewards."

It sounded good, but Xiyan was no longer the novice survivor he once was. Having encountered countless dangers, he had matured significantly and would not be swayed by the empty words of this stranger.

"Then why don't you introduce me to how these points and clearance methods work? You should explain it to me," Xiyan replied.

The man nodded and said with a sycophantic smile, "Naturally, naturally." He then pulled a piece of paper from his coat, which listed various prices.

Xiyan twitched his lips; he hadn't expected this man to be so professional, complete with a price sheet. He took the paper, glanced at it suspiciously, and was stunned.

"Amusement Park Instance Price List:
Leave safely and obtain all rewards: 100,000 points
Leave safely: 50,000 points
Leave with probable permanent injury: 10,000 points
Special Offer: 10% discount for pairs!
One-time offer only, buy now before it's gone!"

Staring at the familiar, clichéd advertising, Xiyan was speechless. He pointed to the "probable permanent injury" option and asked, "Does this mean I might end up missing an arm or a leg?"

The man took the paper back and replied, "Exactly, though it’s not guaranteed—you might still manage to leave in one piece."

"I have a question about this list," Xiyan pressed. "What is the difference between 'leaving safely' and 'leaving safely with all rewards'?"

The man smiled mysteriously. "There is definitely a difference; otherwise, why would I list them separately?" He pointed toward the carousel behind them. "Take this attraction, for example. It actually has hidden rewards, but you’d never know about them if I didn't tell you."

Xiyan curled his lip. "How can I contact you?"

"Only I can contact you; there is no way for you to find me," the man chuckled.

"Fine. Can you come back to contact me in three hours? Since we’ve arrived in this instance, we at least have to try the tasks here, don't you think?" Xiyan said.

The man nodded. "I understand your mindset. You think if you try it yourselves, you might be able to leave without paying these points. I can tell you that no one has ever managed that, but since we don't force our customers, you can go ahead and try. I’ll come find you in three hours."

Xiyan nodded, then took Qingyan and walked away.

"Xiyan, do you think what he said is true?" Qingyan asked in a low voice once they were out of earshot. She sounded uncharacteristically docile, like a well-behaved young lady.

Her attitude puzzled Xiyan. Why had this fearless "witch" suddenly become so obedient?

"Whether it's true or not is hard to say for now, but we can try exploring it ourselves first."

Qingyan nodded. Xiyan couldn't help but wonder to himself: why would someone selling clearance methods even exist in this instance?